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Sounds like you've done your homework. Are you bringing the affected area down to bare metal, then feathering out the existing base / clear? When you say light coats, how light are you talking?

If the clear is coming off with just normal water pressure there is an underlying problem. Has the quarters/ deck lid been repainted?

There is no sense in painting on top of a poor foundation, it will eventually flake off. Your best bet is stripping and starting fresh.

Yes, I sanded it down to bare metal, then feathered the 'edge' so to speak. From the center I could see bare metal, then about an inch of primer, and lastly the base/clear coat. All transitions were smooth to the touch. After feathering the section, water wouldn't lift the paint...only the spray paint would. Since it was a small area, I held the can about 12" away in a quick sweeping motion. I'd say about 40% coverage for the first coat (I would do two coats of the etching primer before filler primer).

As far as I know, there's no repainted/repaired sections. The paint looks uniform throughout the whole body. There's no noticeable 'blending' around the door jams. I figured the paint started lifting due to Subaru's horrible quality paint, plus 250k miles lol.

1 get an estimate FIRST for what you want done, then compare it to the list of material you need. You may find it's cheaper to pay someone to do the job rather than buy $250 worth of material which you'll only use $35 of.

2. Find a body shop willing to point you in the right direction, and one that is willing to work with you and paint your project. Most shops REFUSE to paint anything they have not prepped themselves. The reason for that is, the paint job is only as good as the way its been prepared. Our reputation is on the line

3.Many times spray can primer is an air dry product. When a body shop paints over it, the paint swells the primer and the paint job turns into a mess which has to be redone by the body shop. Or, if you do luckily get through it without that problem, weeks later the primer shrinks back down and the paint either chips off or dulls out. I guarantee you will not get professional results without professional help and equipment.

NOW THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

On the other hand, if you want to learn the basics of body work and enjoy doing it and are just wanting to make it look good without perfection, by all means go for it. I started with a can of putty and fixed my 61 chevy fender back in 1972. It looked like absolute CRAP but it was a masterpiece to me. I fell in love with Auto Body repair and have been doing it ever since. Good Luck to you, I hope you enjoy it.

Hello all. I would like to wrap my car in 3m vinyl but I had some concerns. My car is an 04 with normal road wear that the car has accumulated through the years. With that, there are minor rock chips in the paint and a couple of scratches that catch my fingernail. I would ideally like to somehow fill them in so that my wrap will be uniform in appearance. What is the best approach to this? I was thinking of using a spot putty to fill in but is that ideal? I have tried to use factory paint and 1500 grit to slowly fill with crappy results. I also have a couple of minor dents from a hailstorm last year. If I were to sand the paint down to metal and use bondo, would I absolutely have to apply primer seeing that I will be applying vinyl shortly after the bondo has cured? Thanks for any help.

Yes, I sanded it down to bare metal, then feathered the 'edge' so to speak. From the center I could see bare metal, then about an inch of primer, and lastly the base/clear coat. All transitions were smooth to the touch. After feathering the section, water wouldn't lift the paint...only the spray paint would. Since it was a small area, I held the can about 12" away in a quick sweeping motion. I'd say about 40% coverage for the first coat (I would do two coats of the etching primer before filler primer).

As far as I know, there's no repainted/repaired sections. The paint looks uniform throughout the whole body. There's no noticeable 'blending' around the door jams. I figured the paint started lifting due to Subaru's horrible quality paint, plus 250k miles lol.

If I do need to start over, I guess it's time to go widebody.

I would suggest just going widebody. I'm working on a Aerosim RS right now. A lot of work.

1 get an estimate FIRST for what you want done, then compare it to the list of material you need. You may find it's cheaper to pay someone to do the job rather than buy $250 worth of material which you'll only use $35 of.

2. Find a body shop willing to point you in the right direction, and one that is willing to work with you and paint your project. Most shops REFUSE to paint anything they have not prepped themselves. The reason for that is, the paint job is only as good as the way its been prepared. Our reputation is on the line

3.Many times spray can primer is an air dry product. When a body shop paints over it, the paint swells the primer and the paint job turns into a mess which has to be redone by the body shop. Or, if you do luckily get through it without that problem, weeks later the primer shrinks back down and the paint either chips off or dulls out. I guarantee you will not get professional results without professional help and equipment.

NOW THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

On the other hand, if you want to learn the basics of body work and enjoy doing it and are just wanting to make it look good without perfection, by all means go for it. I started with a can of putty and fixed my 61 chevy fender back in 1972. It looked like absolute CRAP but it was a masterpiece to me. I fell in love with Auto Body repair and have been doing it ever since. Good Luck to you, I hope you enjoy it.

You must have came out of the womb an auto body savant. How do you learn a trade without practicing it? Im glad this was your second post.

Hello all. I would like to wrap my car in 3m vinyl but I had some concerns. My car is an 04 with normal road wear that the car has accumulated through the years. With that, there are minor rock chips in the paint and a couple of scratches that catch my fingernail. I would ideally like to somehow fill them in so that my wrap will be uniform in appearance. What is the best approach to this? I was thinking of using a spot putty to fill in but is that ideal? I have tried to use factory paint and 1500 grit to slowly fill with crappy results. I also have a couple of minor dents from a hailstorm last year. If I were to sand the paint down to metal and use bondo, would I absolutely have to apply primer seeing that I will be applying vinyl shortly after the bondo has cured? Thanks for any help.

I'm not to familiar with the wrapping process or what imperfections would show. I would sand down the chips with 180/400, then apply a little glaze with a razor blade over any chips or scratches.

Forgive the salt, it's been snowy this week. But what do I do about this?

I can manage scratch repair, little chips, but this is pretty spread and goes all the way through the paint. On the front bumper "lip", if you can call it that. I am not sure how this happened, I'm guessing sliding into a curb/snowbank or something like that. Previous owner, not me...

Forgive the salt, it's been snowy this week. But what do I do about this?

I can manage scratch repair, little chips, but this is pretty spread and goes all the way through the paint. On the front bumper "lip", if you can call it that. I am not sure how this happened, I'm guessing sliding into a curb/snowbank or something like that. Previous owner, not me...

Those are called "spider-cracks" and are usually in the substrate of a plastic part. You will need to sand down to plastic, and see if they are still visible. If they are, sand a little more. If they cant be sanded out in the first few mm of plastic you will need to "V" out the cracks, then use SEM Problem Plastic to fill them. San smooth then use some flexible polyester filler. High build primer, then spray. Luckily this is all below that hard line, and you could probably keep it very unnoticeable. Let me know if this helps, or you need further clarification.

Those are called "spider-cracks" and are usually in the substrate of a plastic part. You will need to sand down to plastic, and see if they are still visible. If they are, sand a little more. If they cant be sanded out in the first few mm of plastic you will need to "V" out the cracks, then use SEM Problem Plastic to fill them. San smooth then use some flexible polyester filler. High build primer, then spray. Luckily this is all below that hard line, and you could probably keep it very unnoticeable. Let me know if this helps, or you need further clarification.

Perfect. It makes sense now, so maybe once I get started I'll let you know. It just snowed a ton, so I may not get to it soon like I wanted though...

It's not on there. Is there another tag? Usually on the jamb and not the door itself

that is the tag on the jam . i had this problem with my STi hatch . we couldnt find the code to save ourselves , and ive been doin body work for a while now and this is a first that its just not right there.

that is the tag on the jam . i had this problem with my STi hatch . we couldnt find the code to save ourselves , and ive been doin body work for a while now and this is a first that its just not right there.

Hey Matt. My family got me a set of startingline paint guns for christmas as I've been talking about painting my car for a while now. The requirements say that it needs 13 cfm with a 10psi cap with 30 psi inlet. Now, I don't have an air compressor anywhere near big enough for this job and I was looking to rent an air compressor. I found a gas powered one near me, 8hp and 17 gallon tank with 16cfm. Would this work for me? Or do you have any recommendations?
Thank you, Connor

Hey Matt. My family got me a set of startingline paint guns for christmas as I've been talking about painting my car for a while now. The requirements say that it needs 13 cfm with a 10psi cap with 30 psi inlet. Now, I don't have an air compressor anywhere near big enough for this job and I was looking to rent an air compressor. I found a gas powered one near me, 8hp and 17 gallon tank with 16cfm. Would this work for me? Or do you have any recommendations?
Thank you, Connor

Hey Connor. That's awesome that your family supports you. The one you found for rent should work just fine. The more CFM the better. You don't want the gun spiking or dropping pressure on you. Investing in a pre gun regulator/ water separator would be a smart move too.

Hey Connor. That's awesome that your family supports you. The one you found for rent should work just fine. The more CFM the better. You don't want the gun spiking or dropping pressure on you. Investing in a pre gun regulator/ water separator would be a smart move too.

Make sure you document your progress and ask any questions you have.

Now that's good to hear! And I will definitely document anything I do, I just need to do a lot of stripping and body work. So it'll probably be summer before I get any painting done on the car. And one more question for you. Would the gun work with a much smaller compressor? Like a 6 gallon, 1 hp compressor for painting smaller items, such as furniture or a fridge for other projects around the house, or should I also invest in a harbor freight gun for those sort of projects?
Thank you for your time. -Connor

Hoping someone can help me out here. I'm a fairly new subaru owner. I bought a 2012 impreza sedan 5spd base model back in August. I love it so far but I stupidly backed into a dumpster over the weekend trying to get out of a packed parking lot

I didn't snap any pics yet but I'm going to need a new trunk lid. There is a pretty nice crease in the lid and I think I'm digging a deeper hole if I try to get someone to repair it. The dealership I bought the car from was no help whatsoever and refused to give me a quote without seeing the car. I got a quote for the part from another dealership for $498.15 but that doesn't include paint or anything.

I have had trouble finding a trunk lid online for my year impreza. Will 2011 and older fit? How do you suggest I go about fixing this?